John Ayrton Paris

Who was John Ayrton Paris?

John Ayrton Paris, FRS was a British physician. He is most widely remembered as the probable inventor of the thaumatrope, which he used to demonstrate persistence of vision to the Royal College of Physicians in London in 1824; at about this time he wrote a book entitled Philosophy in sport made science in earnest : being an attempt to implant in the young mind the first principles of natural philosophy by the aid of the popular toys and sports of youth which extended the principle of using simple devices to give convincing demonstrations of scientific principles.

Paris was a medical researcher of some distinction, for example making one of the earliest observations of occupational causes of cancer when, in 1822, he recognised that their exposure to arsenic fumes might be contributing to the unusually high rate of scrotal skin cancer among men working in copper-smelting in Cornwall and Wales. He also wrote about the accidents caused by the use of explosives in mines, and gave lectures to the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall on chemistry as well as serving as the society's first secretary.